Budget season is here, and most 2027 plans will start the same way 2026 plans did: last year’s spreadsheet, a few vendor recaps, and a lot of gut feelings.
We think there’s a better way. Before a single dollar gets allocated, we’re sitting down with Claire, the AI analyst built into the new Clarivoy, and asking three questions. No digging through dashboards, no exports, no waiting on a report. Just the answers that should shape where next year’s money goes.
Here’s what we’re asking.
1. Which channels contributed to sales this year?
Clicks and leads tell part of the story. We also want to know which channels reached shoppers who ended up buying.
That distinction matters when planning a budget. Clarivoy connects marketing activity to vehicle sales, and Claire works from that same foundation: multi-touch attribution across search, social, display, CTV, linear TV and third-party marketplaces.
What we’re looking for:
- Channels that consistently show up in buyer journeys, even when they aren’t the last touch
- Channels whose contribution to sales isn’t fully reflected in lead counts
- How the mix shifts by model line, new versus used, or market
Last year’s allocation is a starting point. Understanding each channel’s contribution gives us a stronger basis for next year’s plan.
2. How are our channels working together?
Shoppers don’t research and buy in a straight line. They might discover a vehicle on a marketplace, see a streaming TV ad, and return through search before visiting the dealership. Each interaction can play a different role.
We’re asking Claire to help us understand those connections so we can plan around the full journey.
The follow-ups we’re planning:
- Which combinations of channels appear most often in journeys that lead to a sale?
- Where do shoppers first engage, and what brings them back?
- Which channels contribute earlier in the journey but receive little credit in last-click reporting?
The goal is to understand how the pieces support one another. That gives us a more informed starting point for conversations with our agencies and partners about the right mix for 2027.
3. Where is the shopper journey changing, and where should the next dollar go?
Looking backward tells us what worked. Planning ahead means watching for changes in how shoppers research and buy.
Marketplaces, streaming TV, and other channels can influence buying decisions well before a shopper submits a lead or makes a final click. If we only look at that final interaction, we risk overlooking part of the journey.
We’re asking Claire to show us:
- How engagement with third-party marketplaces connects to vehicle sales
- Which channels are appearing in a greater or smaller share of buyer journeys over time
- How those patterns differ across vehicle segments and new versus used inventory
Those answers help us decide where to direct incremental budget and what to test in Q1, with clear goals for evaluating the results.
Plan with answers, not assumptions
None of these questions are new. Dealers have always wanted to know what contributes to sales, how their marketing works together, and where to invest next. What’s new is how easily they can explore those questions.
Claire puts independent attribution data into a conversation, helping dealers move from a budget question to an informed discussion with their teams, agencies, and partners. That’s the kind of starting point a 2027 plan deserves.
Ready to ask Claire your own questions? Request a demo of the new Clarivoy and see what your data has to say before budgets are locked.
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